Jeff Giles

At this point, it’s pretty clear that Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill was dealing with a lot more than just heat exhaustion when he left the stage during the band’s show in Dallas last Friday — and that the band was thinking about more than the weather when it pulled the plug on its American tour.

A World War Two veteran, Barlow was a relative late bloomer in the music business. He was 40 when he finally moved to Nashville, where his distinctive baritone quickly scored him a record deal and a string of ’60s hits that included his signature number, ‘I Love Country Music,’ as well as ‘Catch the Wind’ and ‘Birmingham Blues.’

As Adkins pointed out during a recent interview, “My album comes out August 2. And when is the deadline on the debt crisis? August 2! So, what do you think is going to dominate the press that day? I’m out there trying to sell my album and it’s never mind that, we’re going down the toilet!”

Ahoy, country fans! If you’ve got some vacation time on the calendar, $1,000 to burn, and a hankering for the high seas, Blake Shelton is offering you the chance to be part of something special.

Next October, Shelton — along with other artists who have yet to be announced — will set sail on the Norwegian Jewel for a seven-day sojourn. During the cruise, passengers will be treated to the usual amenities, including swimming pools, hot tubs, and port stops in places like San Juan, Tortola, and Nassau, along with unique access to country music royalty.

They may not be household names yet, but with an American Music Award nomination and a T Bone Burnett-produced debut album to their credit, the Secret Sisters are on the rise.

The duo — otherwise known as real-life sisters Laura and Lydia Rogers — will compete with Mumford and Sons, the Civil Wars and Jessica Lea Mayfield for Best New/Emerging Artist honors at this year’s AMAs, scheduled for Sunday, November 20.

Swift is this year’s Ultimate Choice winner at the Teen Choice Awards, held Sunday, August 7. The award, presented for “extraordinary contributions to the entertainment industry,” has previously gone to Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Reese Witherspoon, among others.

They’re tourmates and ‘American Idol’ alums — but are Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina also something more? It’s a question they’ve been asked repeatedly lately, and one they’ve done a great job of refusing to answer.

McCreery and Alaina continued their obfuscation during a recent appearance at the Google campus, dodging yet another volley from the ‘are they or aren’t they?’ camp when the subject came up as part of a series of questions about their feelings on Google’s new social network, Google+.

Taylor Swift’s confessional lyrics have inspired countless fans and helped her become one of the top-selling artists in the world — and now she’s using her current tour to pay tribute to the songwriters who’ve inspired her, in a most personal and unusual way.

During her most recent string of live dates, Swift has scrawled lyrics on her left arm with a Sharpie marker, but not from her own songs; instead, she’s chosen lines from songs and artists she’s found meaningful.

A great song is capable of moving the listener on a pretty intimate emotional level, so it’s only natural that fans often try to find ways of showing their appreciation for an artist’s music — even if the artist is successful enough that gifts are clearly unnecessary.

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